Jeffcoat_unr_0139D_11899.pdf

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Jeffcoat_unr_0139D_11899.pdf

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AbstractThree forms of self are described in Relational Frame Theory (RFT) and in the Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) models of psychological pathology or flexibility: self-as-content, self-as-process, and self-as-context. Treatment components of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) target these aspects of self to reduce attachment to the first and foster the others. The present study developed a scale to measure self in the ACT models of psychological flexibility and pathology and evaluated its psychometric properties. The Reno Inventory of Self-Perspective (RISP) was tested during two phases in which separate samples were administered the RISP battery with well-established or theoretically related measures. Statistical and theoretical analyses were applied to identify potential models. During phase 1, a comprehensive approach was used to identify factors using parallel analysis, principal axis extraction, and promax rotation with two reduced versions of the initial battery, RISPBV43 (RISP Battery Version 43-items) and RISPBV22 (RISP Battery Version 22-items, subsumed by the 43-item version). Multiple structures were additionally tested with structural equation modeling in phase 1. This process led to two models of good fit to be confirmed and contrasted against each other with the Phase 2 sample. During phase 2, the competing models (17-item 2D-RISP and 13-item 3D-RISP) were examined. Both were confirmed to be reliable, valid, and of good fit. After additional comparative evaluation of their performance as predictors, the more parsimonious 3-dimensional RISP was selected. The 3D-RISP measures fusion with self-content (entangled), the ability to take a centered self-perspective (centered), and verbal awareness of the transcendent nature of that perspective (transcendent). The measure demonstrated good internal consistency in 2 large samples (α = .86 with N= 646 college sample; and α = .79 in the more diverse N=543 confirmatory sample). In both samples, the 3D-RISP consistently negatively correlated with psychological inflexibility, anxiety, and depression. The scale strongly related to coping self-efficacy in phase 1 and distress tolerance in phase 2.